Snowy Egrets are nesting in large numbers at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm rookery in April and May each spring. At any given moment from dawn to dusk you can catch a male displaying somewhere off the boardwalk. This year, when I visited in late April, many nests already had young as well. The first shot shows a male in all his finery, from the yellow slippers (maintained all year) to the bright red lores (the area between the beak and eye: red only during breeding season). But of course it is the plumage show that captures the imagination: those fine fine back feathers lifted, in challenge to other males, and in invitation to any females. It was these feathers, of course, along with the corresponding breeding finery of Great Egrets and herons, that also attracted the notice of milliners and ladies of fashion at the turn of the century. The annual harvest of Egrets and herons came close to driving the birds to extension, and lead, thankfully, to the first real conservation movement in the US.

Snowy Egrets are attentive nesters, and at the rookery you get to observe nests in many stages of development. In the second shot a female hovers over her chicks, and in the third, the chicks attack her beak hoping for food.

Then we have another displaying male, and a more intimate portrait.

Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation.  1) 630mm equivalent field of view, f5.8 @ 1/800th @ ISO 200. 2) 840mm equivalent, f5.8 @ 1/1250th @ ISO 200. 3) 560mm, f5.8 @ 1/320th @ ISO 200. 4) 540mm, f5.8 @ 1/640th @ ISO 125. 5) 840mm, f5.8 @ 1/800th @ ISO 160.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.  3) and 5) cropped for composition.